SPOTTED FAN CLUB

There was a small partt of admirers gathered around the locally vbisible Spotted Owl late yesterday. On Friday I got to show the owl to a man who’s lived his entire life in Oregon, well over half a century. He’s an experienced birder of many years and he’d heard Spotted Owls call, but this was his first look at one. Last evening a couple drove up the road and stopped. They’d come to see the owl, having seen only captive Spotted Owls in the past. They had driven down from Portland. The wife pulled out her camwra with a very long lens, joining the two local photogs whjo were already in place. The homeowners and their next-door neighbors also came out to watch the celebrity owl. After 5pm she began to stretch (moving one wing), pivot her flexible neck and turretung her head about. One time she reacted to the wing-whirr of a nearby Mourning Dove. The owl’s human neigghbors are proud of their low-key celebrity visitor. This ia firsyt-year bird and it is likely to have a mountain hunting territory next winter so this is a once-in-a-lifetime… “Ten birds to have in your garden before you die.”